The Anna Maria Island Sun Newspaper

Vol. 15 No. 27 - April 29, 2015

FEATURE

Cortez Village Cultural Center takes shape

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story

SUBMITTED

Prime rib au jus with blue cheese bruschetta

CORTEZ – The Monroe cottage is finally home.

That little white cottage you might catch a glimpse of from Cortez Road at the western edge of the FISH Preserve is on its way to becoming the Cortez Village Cultural Center.

After a move across the Cortez Bridge from 304 Church St. in Bradenton Beach in 2011 and a shorter move from a temporary holding area on the FISH Preserve, the 70-year-old structure has been set on its foundation, wired for electricity, fitted with a disabled ramp and is having its interior floors, walls and ceilings rebuilt.

“It took us a year to get the permit and almost a year to get it moved to its permanent place,” said Kaye Bell, of the Cortez Village Historical Society (CVHS), which is planning a soft opening in October with a grand opening during the Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival in February 2016.

The not-for-profit group aims to preserve the history of the founding families of the historic fishing village, its war veterans and the way of life of commercial fishermen.

Volunteers are needed with trade and landscaping skills, leadership, marketing and administrative experience and historical research backgrounds.

Donations of letters, photographs and artifacts about people in and around Cortez, especially from the late 1800s to the 1940s, will be gratefully accepted, including memorabilia from Cortez veterans, fire department volunteers and church members. Cash donations would help pay the cost of a $1,500 FPL pole, Bell said.

The center is currently accessible from the Florida Maritime Museum by walking the footbridge towards the boatbuilding shop. Eventually, Bell said, it will be accessible directly from Cortez Road.

The city of Bradenton Beach donated the cottage to CVHS to make room for a municipal parking lot after The Sun brought its impending demolition to the attention of Roger Allen, then the director of the Florida Maritime Museum, who helped save the cottage.

The Cortez Village Cultural Center originally was planned as the Cortez Family Life Museum, which was to be located in the 1890s Bratton store east of the museum, but opening the two-story store to the public would have required the installation of an elevator, destroying part of the store, and the decision was made to use the single-story cottage instead.

CVHS operates on membership dues, sales of locally-produced books on Cortez history, Cortez T-shirts on sale at the museum and its famous strawberry shortcake, sold at the festival.

To volunteer or donate, e-mail CortezCulturalCenter@gmail.com or call 941-538-0945.


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